POMPEY'S ambitious waterfront stadium plans could stumble at the first hurdle. The city council said it was doubtful if Pompey's planning application for a 36,000-seater ground on reclaimed land at The Hard, pictured on the front page, will be ready by the autumn, as the club had pledged. Pompey predicted work in the harbour would get under way by next summer, with a view to playing in the new stadium by 2011.
However, John Slater, head of planning at the city council, believes the timescale wouldn't be met. 'I would be very surprised if the planning application comes to us in autumn, I have always considered it an incredibly ambitious timescale,' he said. 'The club is waiting for landowners to say "yes, we are prepared for you to acquire the land" but it is too early to say if that will be buying or leasing.
' The site for the stadium is extremely complex with four different owners – the Ministry of Defence, the Crown Estate, the city council and the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust – as well as lease deals. Pompey want to meet all the owners to thrash out an agreement. But if just one refuses to sell or lease its land to Pompey, planning experts say that will be the end of the stadium dream.
Pompey's stadium could also be sunk after HMS Warrior chiefs vowed they were not going anywhere. Ken Jones, chief executive of the Warrior Preservation Trust, said Pompey had underestimated the amount of space the Warrior needs. Mr Jones said: 'It is unacceptable for us to be rammed in a small space – we are here forever.
' He added: 'With the scope of work that needs to be done I would guess the planning application could be delayed till next year. It is strange – if you want to build on a place it would be a good idea to get permission first from the people already there.' Club spokesman Gary Double said: 'We would not have announced this publicly unless we thought we could do it.
' They want to build a 36,000-seater state-of-the-art stadium with 1,500 luxury apartments surrounding it on three sides in a sweeping bowl shape, rising from 11 to 22 storeys. The project will be built on 13 acres of reclaimed land and is designed by Swiss architect Herzog de Meuron, which is behind the Beijing National Stadium and the Allianz Stadium in Munich. A total of 750 homes will be built on the club's former home at Fratton Park.
Football fans will not be able to park cars at the stadium and will be encouraged to access it by foot, train, bus and ferry. POMPEY'S ambitious waterfront stadium plans could stumble at the first hurdle.
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